Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo Locman

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PAST WINNERS

2003 - MAGNUS HOLMBERG
2001 - (SWE)
2002 - ED BAIRD
2001 - (USA)

Jablonski and Brady maintain perfect marks (05/06/04)
(source : Swedish Match Tour)

Karol Jablonski and Gavin Brady remained the pacesetters after Day 3 at the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman.

Jablonski, representing the Toscana Challenge for the America’s Cup, and Brady, the helmsman for Oracle BMW Racing, both won all of their matches today at the Swedish Match Tour event and are the only remaining undefeated skippers.

Jablonski continued his fine sailing by winning all three of his matches. He defeated Magnus Holmberg, Russell Coutts and Ed Baird. Brady also won all four of his matches today, beating Baird, Jesper Radich, Coutts and Holmberg.

The third day was supposed to be worse than the first two days but the winds were light and shifty early in the day, between 6 and 8 knots from the south/southeast. By mid-afternoon a strong westerly filled and the race committee completed six flights, 19 matches (including a re-sailed match) overall.

The race committee, however, was forced to move the racecourse all over the area of Porto Azzurro. The light southerly winds early in the day forced the racecourse outside of the bay. When the westerlies filled they were able to move the course inside the bay, parallel to the shorelines. Then the final flight of the day was sailed out of the bay.

Among the highlights in the first three flights of the day involved Peter Gilmour’s Pizza-La Sailing Team, which won three of four matches. They improved their record to 4-2 and hold third place in the standings.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is Coutts, who is in 12th place with a 1-5 mark. His one victory came against Baird. Coutts has been off the Tour for a while and says he is here just to have fun. But for a three-time America’s Cup champion, losing is no fun.

Racing is scheduled to continue tomorrow.

Standings (After 12 of 22 scheduled flights)

1. Karol Jablonski (POL/Toscana Challenge), 7-0
2. Gavin Brady (NZL/Oracle BMW Racing), 6-0
3. Peter Gilmour (AUS), 4-2
4. Jesper Radich (DEN), 3-3
5. Magnus Holmberg (SWE), 3-4
6. John Cutler (NZL/Mascalzone Latino), 2-3
6. Bertrand Pacé (FRA/Team France), 2-3
6. Michael Dunstan (AUS/OzBoyz Challenge), 2-3
6. Philippe Presti (FRA/le Défi) 2-3
10. Ed Baird (USA), 2-5
10. Paolo Cian (ITA/Italian Challenge), 2-5
12. Russell Coutts (NZL/Alinghi Team), 1-5

Day 3 Results

Flight 6 (re-sailed match) : John Cutler def. Paolo Cian

Flight 7 : Gavin Brady def. Ed Baird - Bertrand Pacé def. Jesper Radich - Peter Gilmour def. Russell Coutts

Flight 8 : Brady def. Radich - Coutts def. Baird - Gilmour def. Pacé

Flight 9 : Brady def. Coutts - Baird def. Pacé - Radich def. Gilmour

Flight 10 : Michael Dunstan def. Cian - Karol Jablonski def. Magnus Holmberg - Philippe Presti def. Cutler

Flight 11 : Cian def. Radich - Jablonski def. Coutts - Baird def. Holmberg

Flight 12 : Gilmour def. Cian - Brady def. Holmberg - Jablonski def. Baird

Jablonski gets a clean sweep in Italy (05/05/04)
(source : Swedish Match Tour)

Karol Jablonski holds sole possession of first place at the Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman with a perfect 4-0 record after winning his two matches today at the Swedish Match Tour event.

New Zealand’s Gavin Brady, helmsman for Oracle BMW Racing, the America’s Cup Challenger of Record, and Denmark’s Jesper Radich, the reigning Swedish Match Tour champion, are also undefeated at 2-0.

After too much wind to open the event yesterday, today’s weather continued to wreak havoc on the event. Principal Race Officer Giorgio Laura postponed, started and abandoned matches due to the ever-changing winds. The day’s racing ended around 7:30 p.m.

Today started benign, with the Bay of Porto Azzurro nearly becalmed at 9:00 a.m. The start of the day was postponed to allow for some maintenance work on the boats and the breeze to fill.

At 12:00 p.m. PRO Laura lowered the postponement signal and sent the crews to the bay as a 6- to 8-knot southeasterly filled. By the time he began the starting sequence for Flight 4 an hour later, the wind had dropped to 4 knots and eventually died away to nothing by the start of the second match. With no breeze, he was forced to abandon the flight.

Around 2:00 p.m. Laura moved the racecourse to the mouth of the bay to conduct racing. A 5-knot south/southeasterly breeze gusted to 8 knots, but the winds were so shifty that it made for difficult match-racing. A boat two lengths to windward of another would be sailing 20 degrees higher.

Laura began Flight 4 at 2:30 p.m., but the right side of the racecourse was so heavily favored that whoever won the committee boat end of the line won the match, as Peter Gilmour, Gavin Brady and Jesper Radich were able to do.

The regatta schedule calls for a 22-flight round robin followed by quarterfinals, semifinals and final. While Jablonski’s group has completed four flights (12 matches), only six flights have been completed in the other group of six skippers, putting the schedule in jeopardy and turning tomorrow’s scheduled lay day into a race day.

Tomorrow’s forecast is the worst of the week. A series of low pressure systems have been sweeping across the Mediterranean Sea, and tomorrow they’re predicted to produce Force 7 to 8 southwesterly winds, between 28 and 40 knots.

Standings (After 6 of 22 scheduled flights)

1. Karol Jablonski (POL/Toscana Challenge), 4-0
2. Gavin Brady (NZL/Oracle BMW Racing), 2-0
2. Jesper Radich (DEN), 2-0
4. Magnus Holmberg (SWE), 3-1
5. Paolo Cian (ITA/Italian Challenge), 2-2
6. Peter Gilmour (AUS), 1-1
6. Bertrand Pacé (FRA/Team France), 1-1
8. John Cutler (NZL/Mascalzone Latino), 1-3
8. Michael Dunstan (AUS/OzBoyz Challenge), 1-3
8. Philippe Presti (FRA/le Défi), 1-3
11. Ed Baird (USA), 0-2
11, Russell Coutts (NZL/Alinghi Team), 0-2

Day 2 Results

Flight 4 : Peter Gilmour def. Ed Baird - Gavin Brady def. Bertrand Pacé - Jesper Radich def. Russell Coutts

Flight 5 : Karol Jablonski def. Michael Dunstan - Philippe Presti def. Paolo Cian - Magnus Holmberg def. John Cutler

Flight 6 : Jablonski def. Presti - Cian def. Cutler - Holmberg def. Dunstan

Weather foils opening of Toscana Elba Cup (05/04/04)
(source : Swedish Match Tour)

In rotten sailing conditions suited more for luck than match-racing, three flights were completed on the first day of the third annual Toscana Elba Cup – Trofeo Locman, an event of the Swedish Match Tour.

Intermittent rain coupled with huge wind shifts and gusts made for a radical day of sailing. No lead was safe. The race committee postponed racing this morning at 9:00 a.m. due to strong winds blowing 25 knots and gusting to 28 knots. Weary of damaging the boats and hindering the racing schedule, the committee decided to postpone until 1:00 p.m.

Karol Jablonski (POL/Toscana Challenge), the 2002 match-racing world champion, won both of his matches and heads the leaderboard. The only skipper at 2-0, his record is due more to the fact that his group of six crews completed two flights while the second group of six completed just one.

Gavin Brady (NZL/Oracle BMW Racing), Jesper Radich (DEN) and Bertrand Pacé (FRA/Team France) won their Flight 3 matches and stand at 1-0.

Paolo Cian (ITA), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Michael Dunstan (AUS/OzBoyz Challenge) and Cutler are all 1-1.

Peter Gilmour (AUS), Ed Baird (USA) and Russell Coutts (NZL/Alinghi Team) are 0-1. Philippe Presti (FRA/le Défi) is 0-2.

Racing resumes tomorrow with the first warning signal scheduled for 11:00 a.m., weather permitting.

Standings (After 3 of 22 scheduled flights)

1. Karol Jablonski (POL/Toscana Challenge), 2-0
2. Gavin Brady (NZL/Oracle BMW Racing), 1-0
2. Jesper Radich (DEN), 1-0
2. Bertrand Pacé (FRA/Team France), 1-0
5. Paolo Cian (ITA), 1-1
5. Magnus Holmberg (SWE), 1-1
5. Michael Dunstan (AUS/OzBoyz Challenge), 1-1
5. John Cutler (NZL/Mascalzone Latino), 1-1
9. Peter Gilmour (AUS), 0-1
9. Ed Baird (USA), 0-1
9. Russell Coutts (NZL/Alinghi Team), 0-1
12. Philippe Presti (FRA/le Défi), 0-2

Day 1 Results

Flight 1 : John Cutler def. Michael Dunstan - Magnus Holmberg def. Philippe Presti - Karol Jablonski def. Paolo Cian

Flight 2 : Dunstan def. Presti - Jablonski def. Cutler - Cian def. Holmberg

Flight 3 : Gavin Brady def. Peter Gilmour - Jesper Radich def. Ed Baird - Bertrand Pacé def. Russell Coutts

Russell Coutts gets back to sailing in Italy (05/01/04)
(source : Swedish Match Tour)

After a year on the money trail, Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts is getting back to what he does best - sailing.

Following the 5-0 whitewash over Team NZ in March last year, Coutts has spent much of the past year trying to secure money for the defence. However, now that Alinghi's budget is all but assured, Coutts is ready to get back behind the helm.

The most decorated skipper in the history of the America's Cup highlights now a dazzling array of Swedish Match Tour veterans and America's Cup Class sailors who have accepted invitations to compete in the third annual Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo Locman, scheduled May 3-9.

Joining Coutts in Elba are Swedish Match Tour aces Peter Gilmour (AUS), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Ed Baird (USA), and Jesper Radich (DEN).

Gilmour heads the Swedish Match Tour Championship Leaderboard with the high score of 77 points. Holmberg, second on the leaderboard and 30 points behind Gilmour, is the defending champion of the Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo Locman.

Radich is the reigning champion of the Swedish Match Tour. He won the 2002-'03 Tour with a 15-point cushion, and is placed third on the 2003-'04 leaderboard with 35 points.

Other America's Cup Class sailors dominate the lineup, including Bertrand Pacé (FRA), the first Swedish Match Tour champion in 2000, representing Team France, and Philippe Presti (FRA) who remains with France’s le Défi Challenge after a tumultuous Louis Vuitton Cup 2003.

Oracle BMW Racing's helmsman Gavin Brady (NZL) and reigning match-racing world champion Ed Baird (USA) plan to attend their second consecutive events, and 22-year-old newcomer Michael Dunstan (AUS) will make the Tour debut of the OzBoyz Challenge of Australia.

John Cutler (NZL), representing the Mascalzone Latino Sailing Team, Paolo Cian (ITA), helmsman of a new Italian challenger, and Karol Jablonski (POL), the match-racing world champion and skipper of the newly-formed consortium Toscana Challenge (with Jes Gram-Hansen calling tactics).

The Toscana Elba Cup features one of the biggest boats on the Swedish Match Tour, the IMX 40 from X-Yachts of Denmark. The 40-foot, masthead-rigged sloop requires a crew of seven.

A new venue, Porto Azzurro, situated on Elba's Southeastern coast, will host the event that previously was sailed out of Portoferraio. Event organizer Antonio Nappi said that the venue was moved to bring the racing closer to shore and enhance spectator appeal.

After the Toscana Elba Cup - Trofeo Locman, the Swedish Match Tour 2003-'04 schedule continues with the ACI HTmobile Cup in Split, Croatia (May 24-29), Match Race Germany (June 8-14), and the season-ending Swedish Match Cup (July 5-11).